Possibility of Direct Access to
Every Human Brain June 1995
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Editor: Mike Coyle Editor's Note:
This statement by the author of the following paper says
it all.
"Within the last two decades (Persinger, Ludwig, &
Ossenkopp, 1973) a potential has emerged which was improbable but
which is now marginally feasible. This potential is the technical
capability to influence directly the major portion of the
approximately six billion brains of the human species without
mediation through classical sensory modalities by generating neural
information within a physical medium within which all members of the
species are immersed."
The medium he is referring to is the atmosphere of this
planet.
Perceptual and Motor Skills, June 1995, 80, 791-799. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_Summary_.-- Contemporary neuroscience suggests the
existence of fundamental algorithms by which all sensory transduction
is translated into the intrinsic, brain-specific code. Direct
stimulation of these codes within the human temporal or limbic
cortices by applied electromagnetic patterns may require energy levels
which are within the range of both geomagnetic activity and
contemporary communication networks. A process which is coupled to the
narrow band of brain temperature could allow all normal human brains
to be affected by a subharmonic whose frequency range at about 10 Hz
would only vary by 0.1 Hz.
The pursuit of the basic algorithms by which all human
brains operate can be considered a central theme of modern
neuroscience. Although individual differences are expected to
accommodate most of the variance in any specific neurobehavioral
measure, there should exist basic patterns of information and
structure within brain space. They would be determined by the human
genome, i.e., be species-specific, and would contribute to or would
serve as the substrate upon which all phenomena that affect
neurobehavioral measures are superimposed.
One logical extrapolation to a neurophysical basis of
consciousness is that all experiences must exist as correlates of
complex but determined sequences of electromagnetic matrices. They
would control the theme for the format of cognition and affect while
the myriad of possible serial collections of random variations of
"noise" within the matrices could potentially differentiate between
individual brains. Identification of these sequences could also allow
direct access to the most complex neurocognitive processes associated
with the sense of self, human consciousness and the aggregate of
experiential representations (episodic memory) that define the
individual within the brain (Squire, 1987).
The existence of fundamental commonalities between all
human brains by which a similar physical stimulus can affect them is
not a new concept. It is demonstrated daily by the similar shifts in
qualitative functions that are evoked by psychotropic drugs. Classes
of chemical structures, crudely classified as antidepressant,
antipsychotic, or anxiolytic compounds, produce general attenuations
of lowered mood, extreme
eccentric thinking, or extreme vigilance. The characteristics of these
changes are very similar within millions of different human brains
regardless of their cultural or genetic history. The idiosyncratic
experiences such as the specific thoughts and images which reflect
each person's continuing process of adaptation are superimposed upon
these general functions. When translated into the language of
neuroelectrical domains, the unique components of individual
consciousness would be both
embedded within and interacting with the species-invariant patterns.
We have been studying the phenomenological consequences
of exposure to complex electromagnetic fields whose temporal
structures have been derived from the most recently observed
neuroelectrical profiles such as burst-firing or long-term
potentiating sequences (Brown, Chapman, Kairiss, & Keenan, 1988) which
can be considered the prototypical basis of a major domain of brain
activity. These temporal patterns of potential codes for accessing and
influencing neuronal aggregates have
been applied across the two cerebral hemispheres (through the regions
of the temporoparietal lobes or within the region of the
hippocampal-amygdaloid complex) of the brain as weak electromagnetic
fields whose intensities are usually less than 10 milligauss (1
microT). The purpose of this research, as suggested by both E.R. John
(1967) and Sommerhoff (1974), is to identify the basic codes for the
language of the representational systems within the human brain.
In the tradition of Johannes Mueller, we have assumed
that the normal transduction of stimuli by sensors into afferent,
graded potentials and the subsequent translation into digital patterns
of action potentials (which are more likely to behave functionally as
a composite of pixels within a neural field) can be circumvented by
_direct_ introduction of this information within the brain. Induction
of complex information
would require simulation of the resonance patterns which would
normally be transiently created by sensory afferents. The basic
premise is that synthetic duplication of the neuroelectrical
correlates generated by sensors to an actual stimulus should produce
identical experiences without the presence of that stimulus.
We have focused upon the polymodal and most labile
portions of the parahippocampal (Van Hoesen, 1982) and entorhinal
cortices (Vinagradova, 1975) and the anterior superior gyrus of the
temporal cortices (Bancaud, Brunet-Bourgin, Chauvel, & Halgren, 1994)
as the region within which
circumvention would be most probable. Extraction and translation of
neural patterns from different sensory inputs into common codes occur
within these regions before they are consciously perceived (Edelman,
1989). That central codes are present was shown by E.R. John (1967,
pp. 348-349) who reported an immediate transference of the operant
control of a response from a pulsatile auditory stimulus to a
pulsatile visual stimulus if its _temporal_pattern_ was identical to
the previous (acoustic) stimulus.
We (Fleming, Persinger, & Koren, 1994) reported that
whole brain exposure of rats to a 5-microT burst-firing magnetic field
for 1 sec. every 4 sec. evoked an analgesic response that was similar
to that elicited by the application of more noxious, tactile
simulation for 1 sec. every 4 sec. directly to the footpads. Direct
electrical stimulation of the limbic structures which simulate
episodic, systemic application of muscarinic (cholinergic) agents can
evoke electrical kindling (Cain, 1989). More recently, direct
induction of chaotic electrical sequences within the labile CA1 region
of the hippocampus has been shown either to promote and attenuate
paroxysmal discharges (Schiff, Jerger, Duong, Chang, Spano, & Ditto,
1994).
These results strongly indicate that imitation of the
temporal pattern of sensory transmission directly within the brain by
any nonbiogenic stimuli can evoke changes which are just as effective
as (and perhaps require less energy than) classical transduction. As
stated more recently and succinctly by E.R. John (1990), the
fundamental operation of brain electrical activity suggests that some
form of frequency encoding may play a significant role in
informational transactions within and between brain structures.
Consciousness would be associated with an electromagnetic pattern
generated by a neural aggregate with invariant statistical features
which are independent of the cells contributing to each feature (John
1990, p. 53).
The effects of applied time-varying magnetic fields upon
brain activity have been considered minimal or within the range of
normal biological limits unless the intensity of the field exceeded
natural endogenous or exogenous (ambient) levels by several orders of
magnitude. Until very
recently, almost all of the studies from which this conclusion was
derived involved highly redundant stimuli such as 60 Hz fields or
repetitive pulses. A simple illustration presents the problem: only 1
min. of a 60-Hz sine-wave field exposes a neural net to 3,600
presentations (60 sec. x 60 cycles per sec.) of the _same_ redundant
information. Even general estimates of habituation (Persinger, 1979)
such as the equation H=IRT2/Rt (IRT=interresponse time, Rt=duration of
response) indicate that habituation to the stimulus would have
occurred long before its termination after 1 min. Although the
burst-firing frequencies (100 to 200 Hz) of the hippocampal neurons,
for example, exceed this pattern, they are not temporally symmetrical
and exhibit a
variability of interstimulus intervals that would contain different
information and would attenuate habituation.
The apparent dependence of organismic responses upon the
intensity of the applied electromagnetic field, the
"intensity-dependent response curve," could simply be an artifact of
the absence of biorelevant information within the wave pattern. If the
temporal structure of the applied electromagnetic field contained
detailed and biorelevant
information (Richards, Persinger, & Koren, 1993), then the intensity
of the field required to elicit a response could be several orders of
magnitude below the values which have been previously found to elicit
changes. For example, Sandyk (1992) and Jacobson (1994) have found
that complex magnetic fields with variable interstimulus pulse
durations could evoke unprecedented changes in melatonin levels even
with intensities within the nanoT range.
The classical counterargument that "very strong"
magnetic fields must be present "to exceed or to compensate for the
electromagnetic noise associated with intrinsic (Boltzmann) thermal
energies" is based upon equations and calculations for the
quantitative indices of aggregates of molecular activity and not upon
the _pattern_ of their interaction. There are other possibilities. For
example, Weaver and Astumian (1990) have shown mathematically that
detection of very weak (microV/cm) fields can occur if the response is
exhibited within a narrow band of frequencies; the detection is a
function of both thermally induced fluctuations in membrane potential
and the maximum increment of change in the membrane potential which is
evoked by the applied magnetic field. The ion-cyclotron-resonance
model which was initiated by the research of Blackman, Bename,
Rabinowitz, House, and Joines (1985) and supported by
Lerchl, Reiter, Howes, Honaka, and Stokkan (1991) indicates that, when
an alternating magnetic field at a distance (resonance) frequency is
superimposed upon a steady-state magnetic field, the movement of
calcium and other ions can be facilitated with very small energies.
More than 25 years ago, Ludwig (1968) developed a compelling (but
hereto ignored) mathematical argument which described the absorption
of atmospherics within the brain.
Above these minimal thresholds, the information content
of the wave structure becomes essential. The simplest analogy would be
the response of a complex neural network such as a human being to
sonic energy. If only a 1000-Hz (sine wave) tone were presented, the
intensity required to evoke a response could well exceed 90 db; in
this instance the avoidant response would be overt and crude. However,
if the structure of the sonic field was modified to exhibit the
complex pattern which was
equivalent to biorelevant information such as "help me, I am dying,"
field strengths several orders of magnitude weaker, e.g., 30 db, could
be sufficient. This single, brief but information-rich stimulus would
evoke a response which could recruit every major cognitive domain.
If the information within the structure of the applied
magnetic field is a major source of its neurobehavioral effect, then
the "intensity-dependent" responses which are interpreted as support
for experimental hypotheses of biomagnetic interaction could be both
epiphenomenal and artifactual. Such amplification of
electromagnetic-field strengths would also increase the intensity of
the extremely subtle and almost always ignored subharmonics, ripples,
and
other temporal anomalies which are superimposed upon or within the
primary frequency. These subtle anomalies would be due to the
artifacts within the different electronic circuits and components
whose similarities are based upon the fidelity of the endpoint (the
primary frequency) despite the different geometries employed to
produce the endpoint.
If information rather than intensity is important for
interaction with the neural network (Jahn & Dunne, 1987), then _these_
unspecified "background" patterns may be the source of both the
experimental effects and the failures of interlaboratory replications.
A concrete example of this problem exists within the putative
association between exposure to power (60 Hz) frequency magnetic
fields and certain types of cancer. The existence of these transients,
often superimposed upon the fundamental 60-Hz frequency, is still the
least considered factor in the attempts to specify the characteristics
of the fields which promote aberrant mitosis (Wilson, Stevens, &
Anderson, 1990).
Within the last five years, several researchers have
reported that direct and significant effects upon specific
neuropatterns can be evoked by extremely weak magnetic fields whose
intensities are within the range of normal geomagnetic variations.
Sandyk (1992) has discerned significant changes in vulnerable subjects
such as patients who were diagnosed with neurological disorders
following exposure of short durations to magnetic fields whose
strengths are within the pT to nT range but whose spatial applications
are multifocal (a fasces-type
structure) and designed to introduce heterogeneous patterns within a
very localized brain space. The effective components of the field
(which are assumed to be discrete temporal patterns due to the
modulation of the frequency and intensity of the electromagnetic
fields) are not always obvious; however, the power levels for these
amplitudes are similar to those associated with the signals (generated
globally by radio and communication systems) within which most human
beings are exposed constantly.
The most parsimonious process by which all human brains
could be affected would require (1) the immersion of all the
approximately 6 billion brains of the human species within the same
medium or (2) a coercive interaction because there was facilitation of
a very narrow-band window of vulnerability within each brain. For the
first option, the steady-state or "permanent" component of the earth's
magnetic field meets the criterion. The possibility that masses of
susceptible people could be influenced during critical conditions by
extremely small variations (less than 1%) of the steady-state
amplitude
(50,000 nT) of the earth's magnetic field such as during geomagnetic
storms (50 to 500 nT) has been discussed elsewhere (Persinger, 1983).
Recent experimental evidence which has shown a threshold in
geomagnetic activity of about 20 nT to 30 nT for the report of
vestibular experiences in human beings and the facilitation of limbic
seizures in rodents is consistent with this hypothesis.
The potential for the creation of an aggregate process
with gestalt-like properties which reflect the average characteristics
of the brains that are maintained with this field and that generate
the aggregate has also been developed (Persinger & Lafreniere, 1977)
and has been labelled the "geopsyche." This phenomenon would be
analogous to the vectorial characteristics of an electromagnetic field
which is induced by current moving through billions of elements such
as wires contained within a relative small volume compared to the
source. Such gestalts, like fields in general, also affect the
elements which contribute to the matrix (Freeman, 1990). The second
option would require access to a very narrow limit of physical
properties within which all brains are maintained to
generate consciousness and the experience of self-awareness. This
factor would be primarily loaded by the variable of brain temperature.
Although the relationship between absolute temperature and wavelength
is generally clear [an example which can be described by Wien's law
and is well documented in astrophysics (Wyatt, 1965)], the
implications for
access to brain activity have not been explored. The fragile
neurocognitive processes that maintain consciousness and the sense of
self normally exist between 308[degrees]K and 312[degrees]K
(35[degrees]C and 39[degrees]C). The fundamental wavelength associated
with this emission is about 10 micrometers which is well within the
long infrared wavelength.
However, the ratio of this normal range divided by the
absolute temperature for normal brain activity which maintains
neurocognitive processes is only about 0.013
(4[degrees]K/312[degrees]K) or 1.3%. If there were a subharmonic
pattern in naturally occurring or technically generated magnetic
fields which also reflected this ratio, then all brains which were
operative within this temperature range could be affected by the
harmonic. For example, if 11.3 Hz were one of these subharmonic
electromagnetic frequencies, variations of only 1.3% of this mean,
i.e., 11.3 Hz +/- [plus or minus] 0.1 Hz, would hypothetically be
sufficient to affect the operations of all normal brains. If this
"major carrier frequency" contained biorelevant information by being
modulated in a meaningful way, then the effective intensities could
well be within the natural range for background radiation
(microwatts/cm2) and could be
hidden as chaotic components within the electromagnetic noise
associated with power generation and use.
One of the major direct prophylactics to the effects of
these fields would require alterations in core (brain) temperature
such as deep but reversible hypothermia. However, this condition would
disrupt the biochemical process upon which neuronal activity and hence
consciousness depends. Treatments which precipitate alterations in
neural activity,
similar to those which are associated with crude hypothermia, would be
less disruptive. Specific candidates which affect multiple receptor
systems such as clozepine (Clozaril) and acepromazine could be
possible pharmacological interventions.
The characteristics of the algorithm for euthermic
individuals are likely to be conspicuous (once isolated) but should
now be hidden within the synchronous activity which is (1) modified
and filtered by aggregates of neurons and (2) modulated by sensory
inputs and intrinsic oscillations (Kepler, Marder, & Abbott, 1990)
before they are crudely measured by electrodes. Because the
fundamental algorithm would be essentially a stable parameter of body
temperature, most electrode montages (including monopolar to a
nonbrain reference, e.g., ear) would cancel or attenuate this index.
Effectively, the algorithm would be expressed in a manner similar to
descriptors for other aggregate phenomena as a physical constant or as
a limited set of these constants. This suggestion is commensurate with
the observation that the underlying neuronal networks which coordinate
millions of neurons manifest the
properties of a (mathematical) strange attractor with a very limited
number of degrees of freedom (Lopes, Da Silva, Kamphuis, Van Neerven,
& Pijn, 1990).
The physical chemical evidence for a fundamental
process, driven by a narrow limit of biological temperature, has been
accumulating. Fixed, oscillatory electromagnetic variations have been
shown _in_vitro_ for enzymes of the glycolytic pathway (Higgins,
Frenkel, Hulme, Lucas, & Rangazas, 1973) whose narrow band of
temperature sensitivity (around 37[degrees]C) is well known. Although
these oscillations are often measured as periods (2.5-min. cycles),
Ruegg (1973) reported a clear temperature dependence of these
oscillations within a range of 1 to 20 Hz between 20[degrees]C and
35[degrees]C in invertebrate muscle.
The most probable brain source which might serve as the
primary modulatory of these biochemical oscillators would involve
structures within the thalamus (Steriade & Deschenes, 1984). Neuronal
aggregates with surprisingly fixed (within 0.1-Hz) oscillations are
found within this structure and depend primarily upon neurons that
require gamma amino butyric acid or GABA (von Krosigk, Bal, &
McCormick, 1993). This inhibitory amino acid is specially derived from
the normal, temperature-sensitive degradation of glucose by the GABA
shunt (Delorey & Olsen, 1994).
Within the last two decades (Persinger, Ludwig, &
Ossenkopp, 1973) a potential has emerged which was improbable but
which is now marginally feasible. This potential is the technical
capability to influence directly the major portion of the
approximately six billion brains of the human species without
mediation through classical sensory modalities by generating neural
information within a physical medium within which all members of the
species are immersed. The historical emergence of such possibilities,
which have ranged from gunpowder to atomic fission, have resulted in
major changes in the social evolution that occurred inordinately
quickly after the implementation. Reduction of the risk of the
inappropriate application of these technologies requires the continued
and open discussion of their _realistic_ feasibility and implications
within the scientific and public domain.
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Accepted March 15, 1995.
Please send reprint requests and correspondence to Dr.
M.A. Persinger, Behavioral Neuroscience Laboratory, Laurentian, Ramsey
Lake Road, Sudbury, Ontario P3E 2C6, Canada.
By M.A. Persinger
Laurentian University
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